Issue 45 - Waste not, want not (Bob Pass - Diageo)

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Waste not, want not (Bob Pass - Diageo)

In the latest in his series Richard Jones talks to Bob Pass marketing and technical manager, animal feeds for Diageo

There's not really a pattern to my job,” begins Bob Pass, marketing and technical manager for animal feeds at Diageo. One day I might have a meeting with government representatives on legal
matters, the next I could be visiting one of our grain drying plants to discuss process improvements. Today I'm in the office, but last week I was showing a delegation from the Susuki Beef Cattle Farm in Japan around our distilleries in Speyside.

“Using the draff (left over grain from the mash tun) and pot ale (the protein-rich residue from the wash still) from all the Diageo Scotch whisky distilleries, we produce around 200,000 tonnes of animal feed a year, more than enough to feed the entire dairy cow industry in Scotland.

“The amount of draff and pot ale produced at our distilleries varies from around 800 tonnes a year at a small facility like Royal Lochnagar, through to nearly 90,000 at our giant grain distillery, Cameronbridge.

“A number of distilleries such as Glenkinchie, Lagavulin and Talisker sell moist grains (untreated draff) direct to local merchants. However we also operate three grain drying facilities, which help to
improve the shelf-life of the product and reduce transportation costs, which means it can be sold over a much wider area.”

According to Bob, the Scotch whisky industry as a whole produces around 750,000 tonnes of animal feed annually, and the vast majority finds its way into the dairy and beef industry.